Aim of this document is to provide health professionals, especially cardiologists and periodontists, a better understanding of the link between atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and periodontitis. In recent years, the immune system, once believed to be only a vital defense against infection and a promoter of healing--except in the instances of a few uncommon connective tissue disorders--is now recognized as a significant active participant in many chronic diseases, including hypertension, diabetes mellitus, arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, psoriasis, and the two diseases addressed in this Editors' Consensus: atherosclerotic cardiovascular dissease and periodontitis.
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